The three-time Oscar nominee will direct Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Paris Opera. (He played the title role in a 1999 film adaptation of the Pushkin novel on which the opera is based.) The production runs from Jan. 26 through Feb. 27, 2026 at the Palais Garnier; Semyon Bychkov will conduct. - AP
For 2025-26, the company will again offer all seats at $11 each (or higher if the buyer chooses). There are twice as many performances as this season, and five works scheduled rather than this season’s three — but only one of those works is a conventional opera. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
“He’s actually a replica of what we see in the tech industry,” Yuval Sharon said. “There’s a messianic belief that we must transcend our own humanity and that AI is making up for all the terrible ways we behave. People really do believe that the future of humanity is robotic.” - APNews
Initially, there was a lot of excitement in the press—the first American at the helm of one of the great orchestras! But the tone soon became hostile, even acrimonious. Audiences loved Bernstein, but his full-bodied manner on the podium—arms, head, hips, shoulders, eyebrows, groin in motion—caused embarrassment and even anger. - The Atlantic
Work on the 998-seat George Weston Recital Hall will begin in the summer of 2026; the project will include upgraded seating, refreshed paintwork, and restoration of the hall’s original flooring. - Ludwig Van
“What has been lost is a sense of decency. It’s a new system of values or rather of a lack of values. We no longer seem to know what is right or wrong. For example, being a liar used to be considered a vice.” - Classical Voice North America
The order directs the Federal Trade Commission to more rigorously enforce existing law governing the use of bots that help scalpers scoop up hot tickets, including by issuing fines. Trump said the FTC, along with the Treasury and Justice departments, will deliver a report within 180 days summarizing what they have done. - The Wall Street Journal
Charles MacKay, who was general director of the summer company from 2008-2018, was arrested in March in Powell, Wyoming after having allegedly solicited two teenagers for sex. - Santa Fe New Mexican
Michael Bublé handed Canadians a heartfelt dose of patriotism at the Juno Awards on Sunday, setting the tone for a night of not-so-subtle references to Canada's current tensions with the United States. - CBC
Joana Mallwitz “did not come from a musical family. Her talent on the piano at home in Hildesheim was quickly apparent, but for three hours each afternoon she was banned from touching it and sent to play in the garden instead.” - The New York Times
"Deantha Edmunds was the 2025 winner of the Classical Composition of the Year Juno Award. Her project Angmalukisaa (the Inuktitut word for ‘round') was part on the album Alikeness with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra.” - Classic 107.
The indie star says, “You want a shortcut to art? You want to have made a product, you don’t want the internal process. … It breaks my heart that some people would forgo the chance to actually get to know what they have to say.” - The Guardian (UK)
As a matter of fact, it’s raised enough to get the heck out of Arts Council England a year earlier than planned during “an uncertain public environment for classical music in the UK.” - The Guardian (UK)
And it’s a cool instrument too: “In effect, the user’s breath becomes the dinosaur’s breath. The result is not the roar that we hear in the movies, but something that sounds more like a deep wail.” - Wired
